History of the Internet

If you want to go through one of the interesting evolutions that have ever happened in the world, then the Internet History should be your choice. One can date back the beginning of the history of the Internet to the early 1950s and 1960s. A phenomenon called Computation was growing in these two decades. You can associate the growth of the Internet with the growth of the computers, even though they do not have the same numbers in the form of years. The early days of the Internet History had point-to-point communication system. This point- to- point to communication system was possible only between the mainframe computers and a few selected electronic terminals.

Packet Switching:

Packet Switching is the first evolution in the Internet History. The packet switching technology redefined the method of communication between the computers. It led to the development of a number of networks called ARPANET, MARK 1, CYCLADES, TELENET, TYMNET and much more. One interesting thing marks the evolution in the Packet Switching system is that, not only the connections between different computers to form a network is possible, but also, connections between different such networks too were possible. This amazing networking system ran with the help a set of rules, which you can term it as protocols. The Packet Switching Method was surely the real beginning of the modern day Internet.

The Rise of Internet:

In the Internet History, one can consider the years between 1973 and 1990 as the important timeline. It was during these years, the advent of networks happened at different places on the earth. Many different networks functioned in various universities of United States of America. In Europe, networks were set up between different computers in United Kingdom. All these networks followed a similar set of protocols called “Internet Protocol” and “Transfer Control Protocol”. All these networks were the extensions of the earliest existing network, the ARPANET. All these networks formed one huge network through merging and connecting one after the other. The giant network that connected a number of networks across the world was termed as “Internet”. The two protocols with which the Internet functioned had its standardization in the year 1982. Since then, “Internet” became the official term.

Commercialization of Internet:

The commercial usage of Internet came into existence in the late 1980s. The commercialization was possible with the help of Internet Service Providers, or shortly, ISPs. The ISPs were the commercial organizations that provided their clients’ computers the access to the Internet. However, you should note another one interesting thing here that becomes another mark in the history of Internet. The real commercialization impact happened only after the advent of World Wide Web or WWW. World Wide Web used Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the improved version of TCP and IP, and a unique language called Hypertext Markup Language. The World Wide Web was a medium with which you can access various web pages in a short span of time. After the advent of WWW, decommission of the ARPANET took place. However, since the early 1990s, Internet began to become an important thing in the lives of humans and even gave rise to new cultures and behaviors. Thus, the History proves to be an interesting thing just like the history of Computers.